COLDWATER — Over two years ago, while he was still attending Coldwater High School (CHS), Austin Littley received many emails regarding college and scholarships. Many of these emails he simply deleted, but as he was looking through them one day nearly two years ago, one stuck out.

“I was ... getting at that time 10 college emails a day, and I normally just archived them and didn’t read them,” Littley said. “But for some reason I read that (email).”

The message invited Littlet to apply for the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) scholarship, which every year selects 75 American students and 75 German students for an all-expenses paid, year-long exchange program. After deciding to apply, Littley won the scholarship and got ready to spend the next two years with a host family in Germany.

A year later, Mariah Littley, Austin’s sister, decided that she was also interested in the program. After going through the application process, she learned that she had received the scholarship as well.

While most CHS students spend their senior year in Coldwater, Mariah and Austin spent theirs in Germany.

“It was hard, to be honest, to watch my friends (in Coldwater) graduate...with me not there,” Mariah said. “In comparison, going to a different country for a year, for virtually no money ... that’s worth a lot more.”

The scholarship paid for a three-week course on how to speak German, but immersion in the language and culture was the primary tool used by the Littleys to learn to communicate.

“We didn’t know any German before going there,” Mariah said. “Kinda went there and was like, ‘Hey! Let’s learn German!’”

She said that immersion, combined with constant practice, allowed she and her brother to become fluent within a year.

“You just have to read a lot ... don’t speak (English), practice (German) all the time,” Mariah said.

Austin said that the scholarship is designed in a manner which allows people at all levels of German speaking to participate, be they beginners or nearly fluent.

“It doesn’t matter if you know German or not,” Mariah added.

Austin said that nearly 50 percent of Americans who apply for the scholarship receive it, but most people simply don’t know about it.

“There are a lot of these scholarships, and not many people apply for them,” Austin said. “Nobody knows about it, so very few people apply for it.”

“I think it’s a mix between (Americans) don’t know about it and people don’t want to step out of their comfort zone,” Mariah said. “It’s a big step to go a year in Germany when you’re in high school.”

Both Littleys said that Coldwater High School made it very easy to have credits earned in Germany count towards their graduation requirements. Nevertheless, Mariah said that school in Germany is more difficult than in the United States.

Page 2 of 2 - “Of course the language is difficult, but I think you take a lot more classes,” Mariah said. “I took 10 classes, not every day, it was more spread out ... it was kind of like college.”

The program also offered the Littleys the opportunity to travel throughout Europe. Mariah said she traveled to such countries as England and the Netherlands, while Austin traveled to Denmark and Austria, among others.

“The scholarship itself is pretty cool, they pay for two trips,” Austin said. “One to Berlin to visit all the government buildings and stuff and talk to some of the government people, and then one in the middle of the year to go to either Dresden or Munich.”

One of the broadest benefits of the program, according to both Littleys, is that it helps to dispel stereotypes regarding Germans and Americans. Americans in the program prove to Germans that not all Americans are the same, and Germans in the program prove to Americans that not all Germans are the same, Mariah said.

“People think that everybody is this way, everybody is that way — it’s good for both sides,” Mariah said.

“That’s why they made the scholarship after the second World War,” Austin added.

Despite the adventures they had, both Littleys had to return to the United States. Both will be entering Michigan State University in the fall.

Mariah said she and her brother had a difficult time leaving Germany.

“It became our second home,” she said. “Leaving our family there was really hard.”

Apart from general self-enrichment, both Littleys said they feel being fluent in German will help them with future careers.

“Learning any language is an advantage ... in whatever job you do,” Mariah said.

“(I did it) mostly just for (self) betterment,” Austin said. “But there is also then a whole new job market that’s opened up.”